Individual Motivation, its Nature, Determinants and Consequences for Within Group Behavior

The paper deals with evaluating the adequacy of the assumption that in economic transactions people are self-interested insofar as they are motivated solely by the concern of maximizing their own utility, and in particular with assessing how this assumption affects within-group behavior. Policy and incentive structures based on the assumption of exogenous and self-interested motivation can undermine other sources of motivation and have negative effects both on cooperative behavior and also on economic efficiency. The paper sketches the motivational assumption of homo œconomicus: in the classical formulation, in rational choice theory and in Becker’s later work which introduces personal and social capital into the individual utility function. It then challenges the position that homo œconomicus contains an adequate characterization of human motivation for cooperative within-group behavior. It introduces alternative motivational behaviors: philia and altruism, identity and self-expression, moral rules, intrinsic motivation and social norms. It argues that motivations are complex and multiple; a single assumption of utility maximization is insufficient for policy purposes. As the individual is always a social being, how she behaves will be dependent on the social context in which she is acting. If motivations are endogenous, and if under certain conditions maximizing motivation displaces other sources of motivation, then these indirect effects, and their long term consequences for efficiency and equity, should be taken into account in framing economic policies.Motivation; Rational Choice; Self-Interest; Cooperation

Chapter 2 Anthropological visions

This book brings development theory and practice into dialogue with the religious tradition, in order to construct a new, trans-disciplinary vision of development, with integral ecology at its heart. It focuses on the Catholic social tradition and its conception of integral human development on the one hand, and on the works of economist and philosopher Amartya Sen which underpin the human development approach on the other. The book discusses how these two perspectives can mutually enrich other around three areas: their views on the concept and meaning of development and progress; their understanding of what it is to be human, that is, their anthropological vision; and their analysis of transformational pathways for addressing social and environmental degradation. The book examines how both human development and the Catholic social tradition can function as complementary analytical lenses and mobilizing frames for embarking on the journey of structural and personal transformation to bring all life systems, human and non-human, back into balance. This book is written for researchers and students in development studies, theology, and religious studies, as well as professional audiences in development organisations

Chapter Conclusion

This book brings development theory and practice into dialogue with the religious tradition, in order to construct a new, trans-disciplinary vision of development, with integral ecology at its heart. It focuses on the Catholic social tradition and its conception of integral human development on the one hand, and on the works of economist and philosopher Amartya Sen which underpin the human development approach on the other. The book discusses how these two perspectives can mutually enrich other around three areas: their views on the concept and meaning of development and progress; their understanding of what it is to be human, that is, their anthropological vision; and their analysis of transformational pathways for addressing social and environmental degradation. The book examines how both human development and the Catholic social tradition can function as complementary analytical lenses and mobilizing frames for embarking on the journey of structural and personal transformation to bring all life systems, human and non-human, back into balance. This book is written for researchers and students in development studies, theology, and religious studies, as well as professional audiences in development organisations

Chapter 3 Transformational Pathways

This book brings development theory and practice into dialogue with the religious tradition, in order to construct a new, trans-disciplinary vision of development, with integral ecology at its heart. It focuses on the Catholic social tradition and its conception of integral human development on the one hand, and on the works of economist and philosopher Amartya Sen which underpin the human development approach on the other. The book discusses how these two perspectives can mutually enrich other around three areas: their views on the concept and meaning of development and progress; their understanding of what it is to be human, that is, their anthropological vision; and their analysis of transformational pathways for addressing social and environmental degradation. The book examines how both human development and the Catholic social tradition can function as complementary analytical lenses and mobilizing frames for embarking on the journey of structural and personal transformation to bring all life systems, human and non-human, back into balance. This book is written for researchers and students in development studies, theology, and religious studies, as well as professional audiences in development organisations

Fins et moyens : une interpretation aristotélicienne du développement économique

Se basant sur diverses caractéristiques de l’éthique aristotélicienne (réalisme moral, essentialisme internaliste et universalisme contextuel), l’article définit les finalités du développement économique comme un ensemble ouvert et incomplet de différentes composantes incommensurables. Cette incomplétude et incommensurabilité posent de sérieux problèmes en matière de choix et d’évaluation de ces finalités en termes de justice internationale. Ces problèmes, loin d’être surmontés par une réduction quantitative des composantes de la qualité de vie et une universalisation de ces mesures, se doivent d’être abordés par une approche délibérative de la rationalité, laissant place à une évaluation contextuelle et normative des finalités à poursuivre. L’article propose une approche aristotélicienne du développement humain, c’est-à-dire un développement économique orienté vers une pluralité de finalités incommensurables définies à partir de la nature humaine, et animé par une rationalité pratique impliquant une perception contextuelle ainsi qu’une délibération normative quant aux finalités à poursuivre ayant pour horizon l’accomplissement des potentialités de la nature humaine.Ethique aristotélicienne; qualité de vie; raison pratique; développement humain

How the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can engage with religion

International and local development institutions are increasingly acknowledging the importance of religion in their work but the question of how to engage with religion still remains unclear. Séverine Deneulin and Augusto Zampini-Davies argue that there is a method for engagement. Here they discuss what lessons we can learn from the international dialogue facilitated by the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development on Prope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si